Claiming Your Queen

In my practice, I’m witnessing a revitalized version of the Queen archetype reemerging

At the tender age of 51, I walked for the first time down the wedding aisle. That I said, “Yes!” to marriage seemed remarkable, at least to me. That I chose to do so publicly and with considerable ceremony truly baffled me until I began to understand that I was under the influence of the archetypal energy I now recognize as the Queen.An archetype is an original pattern or prototype that can be reliably replicated. In Jungian psychology, archetypes represent patterned potentials of our collective unconscious. The diversity of archetypes is limitless, yet there are classic archetypal energies that naturally emerge through rites of passage such as birth, menses, marriage, promotion, loss, or death. In my case, I never longed to be a Princess; instead, my choice to marry marked a passage from my more familiar—and reclusive—archetypal roles of Healer and Sage to a more visible Queen status. As I gradually embraced this latent energy in myself, a new level of confidence emerged in me. I became less interested in what other people thought of me, more willing to assert my influence in service to my …